Winter Cell
by blackwood dancer
Summary: Marauder era. A group of 7th year Gryffindors decide to go on a Christmas camping trip. Everything is going great until their trip comes to grinding halt. OCxOC and eventual OCxMarauder pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note/warnings: **this is an OC centric fiction. Also I don't have a Beta. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own etc

**Enjoy**

Sunlight streamed through the doorway, illuminating the students strolling down the hallway. Two girls stood upon a bench clearly trying to spot someone.

"There she is!" pointed one of the girls, as a student veered sharply towards them. "Where have you been, Caitlin?"

"I had to clear up few things before _The Hogwarts Hogwash_ got its dirty hands on my breakup," Caitlin informed them.

"What breakup? Since when? Why?"

"Cause Pierre and I are just friends now."

"What? It's almost your one year... What happened?"

"Lauren, nothing happened, we just aren't _feeling the love_ anymore. It _is_ a mutual feeling, so now I'm single again, like you guys!"

Lauren raised her eyebrows. "Okay, if that's what you say…"

"It is." interrupted Caitlin. She turned to the silent redhead beside Lauren "So Kirsten, are we meeting Alex here or at Hogsmeade?"

"Oh subtle" cut in Lauren before Kirsten could answer.

"Juvenile" Caitlin tossed back at Lauren walking down the hallway behind Kirsten who had decided that actions were better than words. It took sometime before the argument died, only to have it revived when the last of the group, Alex, joined them.

However, soon the topic changed to the latest and greatest items to hit Hogsmeade. The Hogwarts Hogwash had published several articles on the latest robe fashions at Gladrags Wizardwear and all the other newest items available around the town. They'd also run a companion issue on which was the best way to clear a room 'Dung bombs or Stink pellets pros and cons.' However, this was promptly confiscated.

Hogsmeade was bustling as was to be expected on these trips. Every student that was old enough was there and that was a fair few. Caitlin didn't wait for the other three girls as she ran for Dervish and Banges. She barely remembered to slow down as she entered the shop. The door banged on its hinges. Carefully Caitlin scrutinized the objects adorning the shelves; she slowly made her way around the shop before stopping in front of the object of her desire. The sneakoscope spun, humming, amid a range of assorted odds and ends. The shelf it happened to be on was right next to the store's counter where a bored a middle aged witch sat, idly picking her nails.

"That's it! That's the one!" proclaimed Caitlin pointing to the sneakoscope, just as the others walked in.

"You know Caitlin, I really don't see the point of that thing," Kirsten commented as she leisurely browsed the shelves.

"Me neither," Lauren agreed, picking up a stately leather bound book.

"Think that's a little out of your price range, Loz," observed Alex peering at the book.

Lauren softly stroked the books binding "Yeah but I can dream"

"And I can dream safely knowing that there isn't some scumma trying to murder me. That's why I'm buying this," Caitlin explained, handing over her money.

"Sure, you paranoid android," joked Alex.

The others turned to look at Alex "Um… what's an android?" asked Lauren.

"Oh, it's a robot that looks like a human-" Alex halted her explanation as the others began to look even more confused "Never mind, it's a muggle thing,"

"Right, moving on," Lauren headed to the door grabbing both Alex and Kirsten by the elbows and forcing them out before her. Caitlin hurriedly picked up her gift wrapped sneakoscope, the humming ceasing as she left the shop.

As she entered the street, her hair whipped around. Desperately trying to pry the long burgundy tendrils off her face, she spied the other three. They were huddled together in the middle of the cobbled street, oblivious to the obstruction they were causing. Kirsten and Lauren were having an argument on the best way to budget their money, while Alex stared off in the direction of the post office. Caitlin was struck by the thought that, with Kirsten's red hair and Lauren's blonde, combined they were the colours of fire.

"What an odd thought," mused Caitlin. When catching up to Alex she flung an arm around her "Alex, you know there isn't going to be any mail? If there was trouble Dumbledore would have notified you"

"Hmm… I know," turning her gaze to Caitlin, Alex leant into her grateful for the reprieve from the wind. Tugging at Caitlin's arm she guided them over to the other two who were still bickering. Interrupting them Alex asked "So who wants to get some butter beer?" Alex's question was greeted enthusiastically. The girls hurried down the street, longing to get out of the bitter wind and into the warmth of the Three Broomsticks.

The soft buzz of conversation greeted them as they entered the Three Broomsticks. From there they split up, Caitlin and Lauren heading to the bar and Kirsten and Alex going to a booth.

"It's always so nice here," sighed Kirsten as she sunk into the booth's well worn leather seats.

"Yeah good food, good beer and good people," Alex said, indicating to the rest of the students. It took a few minutes but Lauren and Caitlin finally made it to the booth; hands full with mugs of butterbeer.

"Guess who we had to try _desperately_ hard to avoid at the bar?" Lauren scowled. Kirsten and Alex shrugged both more interested in their beers. "That nosey sod Rosaline, she never gives up trying to get goss' on the boys. Even though I've _told_ her just because we share class does not mean that they share their bloody sob stories,"

There was a collective sigh around the table as everyone glanced subtly towards the bar. A gangly fifth year sat on a bar stool scribbling furiously as she stared out at the crowd, a frown etched into her face. Every now and then she would stop to push up her glasses before starting to scribble again. For all the girl was a brilliant editor for the Hogwarts Hogwash, she was thoroughly obsessed with gossip. At tribute to her abilities to gather information there was already a significant stack of paper next to her and it wasn't even midday yet.

"Wonder what scandal she's dug up. On second thought, I don't really care." Caitlin said taking a long gulp from her butterbeer.

"Probs' something useless on someone buying something that is completely useless," Kirsten stated blandly, pointedly directing her gaze at Caitlin's sneakoscope.

"Sneakoscopes _are not_ useless!" Caitlin defended, crossing her arms and pouting. Kirsten looked like she was preparing for a lengthy debate; she even rolled up her sleeves. She never got a chance to start because Lauren quickly interrupted "Actually I heard that they're writing an article on the shrieking shack."

"Yeah I overheard one of the 'meader's saying that the Shack's been quiet the last few months," Caitlin added before giving Kirsten one last glare.

"Really?" Ignoring Caitlin, Kirsten focussed all her attention on the answer to her question.

"Yeah apparently there have only been one or two shrieks from it over the last three months. People are saying that that it's almost safe. People are even heading into the mountains for the first time in years," Caitlin continued.

"This may sound dumb but why haven't people been going up there before?" Alex asked. All the wizarding students knew about the Shrieking Shack and the land that was unofficially forbidden around it. However, Alex was a muggle so she didn't know the land around Hogsmeade very well.

"The only access point is next to the Shack. The path goes right up to the fence and through the garden out the back," While Caitlin continued the explanation, a dreamy expression came over Kirsten's face.

"I've always thought that those mountains looked so beautiful," she sighed wistfully, the others just stared at her. As they stared she suddenly slammed her beer on the table "Lets' go camping up there!"

It took so long for the girls to recover, that when Alex did Kirsten was blushing so hard she looked like a tomato. "What? As in right now?" asked Alex

Kirsten's face fell for the briefest of moments before her enthusiasm reappeared "Err… maybe not. What about over Christmas. I mean it isn't that far away now. It's in what two weeks or so?"

There was a pause as the others mulled this over. Alex and Caitlin didn't have a problem with this as they spent Christmas at Hogwarts. Lauren had a bit more to consider as she went home for the holidays.

"So any takers?" Kirsten prodded. It wasn't often that there was a chance for any hiking during the year and it wasn't as if she was expected home for Christmas either. She really hoped that the others would agree, normally she would be the last to suggest anything like this but she really loved being surrounded by wilderness. Again a pause and then the barrage of questions began. They came so fast that Kirsten wasn't even sure who asked them.

"It'll be cold and wet and snowy,"

"Oh come on that's why they invented tents and self warming scarves and stuff,"

"Travel?"

"Walking. It's good for you,"

"Maps?"

"The school should have some in the library,"

"Supplies?"

"I'm sure the house elves won't mind if we ask nicely,"

"Presents?"

"Post,"

"The boys?" That question by Alex froze the onslaught. Caitlin stared at her. It wasn't that the question was shocking but that Alex had asked it. 'The boys' as Alex put it were several of the Gryffindor seventh year boys that Caitlin or Lauren shared most of their classes with. As such, Caitlin or Lauren were normally the ones to include the boys in things than Alex.

"Err…I suppose but um… which of the boys exactly?" asked Kirsten. She didn't mind in the least if the Remus, Chase or even Ty came but she had a funny feeling that they were the only ones that Alex wanted to invite.

"Ty, James, Remus, Sirius and Damien," replied Alex.

"Oh don't forget Chase. Remus would be pissed if he didn't come,"

"You realise that Billy will have to come as well?"

"You have a problem with that?"

"Kind of… means there's more people to organise,"

"Really it means you're gonna have to invite Billy on the trip because it's your trip. And it would be rude for me to do it. I know you don't like him Kirsten but suck it up," Alex punched Kirsten lightly to emphasise her point.

"You owe me big! So big, so big that you're gonna check all my essays for the next four months," Kirsten was quite put out by the fact that she had to invite Billy. He was always an arse. Just because his family had discovered the potion that could regrow a person's muscle and skin, did not mean he was the best at potions. That was in fact Severus or maybe Lily.

"Worth it," Alex stated firmly. Silence again. So many questions sat on the tip of the girls tongues. Why now? Why was having Damien there so important to Alex? Was there something going on between them? And why if there was hadn't she told them?

Caitlin was the first to get any of these questions out "Is there something going on between you?"

Alex remained calm for seconded before a small smile crept onto her lips. That small smile was all the answer the girls needed.

"It so is!" cried Caitlin hugging Alex. Kirsten added her congrats as did Lauren. However, something was decidedly off with Lauren thanks.

"How come you didn't say anything?" Lauren asked peering over her mug at Alex.

"It's complicated... We both want to be more than friends but don't know how to get there. So really there isn't anything going on but maybe if I invite him to this he'll definitely know I want more," As Alex explained her smile becoming wider and wider till Lauren thought it might split her face. Lauren smiled in return; it was always complicated with Alex but it was heart warming to see her so happy, especially in these troubling times.

"Complicated," The others agreed.

"Well, I suppose that's settled then. We're going camping for Christmas" Kirsten grinned, her joy obvious as she started to plan their trip. It wasn't long before the girls headed back out into the bone chilling wind to continue their Hogsmeade trip they now had extra things to buy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note/warnings: **this is an OC centric fiction. Also I don't have a Beta. You have been warned. Contains some course language.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own etc.

**Enjoy**

That week came and went. By Friday almost all the boys had been invited to the Christmas camping trip. It was only Billy that had yet to be invited personally. Kirsten knew that he'd heard about it since he was friends with the others but it was her job to actually invite him. It had taken her all week just to get up the nerve to ask him. So after potions class Kirsten stopped him.

"Kirsten I'm going to be late. You'd better have good cause to make me wait" venom dripped from Billy's voice.

"Billy you don't have class after this, so you ain't gonna be late," Kirsten quickly shot back. Taking a deep breath, knowing she was blushing, she continued "Anyway I thought you might like to be invited on a Christmas camping trip I've organised."

There was a long pause before Billy answered "Why would I want to go on a silly little camping trip?" Again he paused letting his words sink in. Kirsten refused to look at him as she knew he would be looking bored. He always looked bored, the only time he didn't was when he was working on a potion. Unnoticed by Kirsten, Billy was actually watching with interest as her face got redder by the minute.

"Especially with the very people that I choose to spend every day of the year with?" the sarcasm made Kirsten blink but it did not draw her eyes to his face. He knew she was waiting for him to say he didn't want go. "I thought you weren't going to invite me," Kirsten's eyes were on the floor but when she heard the softness and the smile in his voice she looked up. The smile was lopsided but genuine.

"What? No I just...well you're going to be late remember? I'll just be going now" stammered Kirsten taking a step back. She didn't know what to make of this. Billy never smiled at her. She went to take another step back but Billy caught her arm.

"You're not going to wait for my answer? After I let _you_ make _me_ late? You're just going to run off? Wasting my time once again, you're always wasting my time" His voice had return to its normal irritated tone but the smile was still there.

"I'm not wasting your time you toffy nosed git. Are you coming then?" Kirsten demanded trying to free her arm.

"I am. I'll see you later then" Billy said letting go of her and walking out of the room. Kirsten stared after him. He really was the most irritating, arrogant git of the wizarding world she knew. Collecting her books she hurried to the Gryffindor hoping to get some work done before dinner.

Dinner that night was a fairly subdued affair as the Gryffindor quidditch team had just returned from training and were more interested in the food the conversation. The other Gryffindors knew this and just conversed around them. Remus and Sirius both observed the way Lily sat next to James and wiped the dirt off his cheek. Sirius thought about how since Severus had called Lily a mudblood she'd taken quite a shine to James. Sirius also noticed that Lily would lean closer to James whenever the other girls would try to engage James or anyone sitting close to him in conversation. Was Lily feeling threatened by the others attention's towards James? They hadn't changed their behaviour or had they? Sirius thought as he saw Caitlin shoot a glare at Lily who continued to rub more dirt off James' face.

Sirius was not the only one reflecting on odd behaviour; Kirsten was trying to understand exactly what had happened early that evening. Billy was never that, dare she think it, nice to her. She knew he could be nice but it was never directed at her. Well that was not really true. She did have to concede that he had been nice to her occasionally. The last time was when they worked on an assignment for potions class a couple of weeks ago. He hadn't glared at her when she'd asked him questions then. It was hard trying to interpret some of the more obscure archaic language that the text insisted on using. They'd even had decent conversations but not since then. She decided that Billy must have inhaled some of the positive potions they had been making. That was the only explanation for his weird behaviour.

Besides a few students, the rest of the students were excitedly whispering about the secret Christmas party that was being held tomorrow night; really the noise could not be classified as whispering. The teachers also all knew about the party but refused to do anything, as it was Christmas. They also most certainly did not get paid enough to spoil the students' fun.

* * *

The next night Caitlin led the way through the cold, dark, empty halls toward the Room of Requirement; two others diligently following behind her. Their progress was slow as they had to constantly jump into shadows to avoid being caught by the care taker.

When they finally arrived at the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, Caitlin walked back and forth in front of the tapestry, concentration etched into her features until a door appeared. Grinning excitedly the girls pulled the door wide open. For the first few seconds they let the sound and soft lighting swamp them. The soft light barely illuminating a large collection of teenager's chatting and a smaller group moving to music that seemed to be resonating from the walls.

Caitlin raised a hand in greeting as she spotted Ty slowly making his way through the crowd towards them. He was having a hard time preventing his fire whiskey from spilling as people kept cutting him off. "Sup, Ty?"

"Not much. This Christmas party's only just getting started"

"I can tell" mumbled Kirsten as she observed that for such a large crowd only a small number of people were dancing. The majority of students were talking in small groups around the edges of the room and at the bar. Caitlin had not heard her comment and had continued the conversation with Ty.

Kirsten turned to Lauren who had started to nod her head to the beat of the music. Kirsten caught Lauren's eye and flicked her head in the direction of the main room. Lauren grinned and interrupted Caitlin and Ty's conversation "Hey, so where are the others?"

Ty pointed toward the back of the room and winked "It's not just the boys here tonight," "I got the whole A Class!" his enthusiasm sounding a little too much like a massive fangirl. Lauren would not have been surprised if he let out a "Squee!" at the end of his statement.

The 'A Class' as the group was adoringly called were the smartest and most admired male students in the six and seventh years, thus excluding Severus. This exclusive group included the seventh years the Marauders, Billy and Damien both from Gryffindor; Travous and Lawrence from Ravenclaw; and Andrian from Slytherin. The class was selected by the female students every six months for the _Hogwarts Hogwash _(their fastest selling issue). Through the mass of people, the girls could just see an area littered with bean bags, low tables and the Gryffindor guys from the 'A class'.

Ty and the girls slinked their way through the small throng of people. Lauren poked Ty when she saw the group "Liar! This isn't the whole A Class!" she accused. Grinning guiltily Ty shrugged and kept moving.

"Hi!" yelled Lauren, though she didn't need to, the music was loud but you could still be easily heard over it. The guys made to answer but before they could Alex jumped onto the unsuspecting girls. Caught off balance the girls fell into the conveniently placed beanbags ungraciously. It took a few moments to managed untangle their various limbs. Lauren twisted herself around to face the girl who had caused their predicament "Bout time you showed up, Alex."

"Shut up. I got here as fast as I could," Alex retorted. Then she explained that she'd been helping in the Divination tower and it had taken her some time to reassure Professor Raicoone that she wasn't going to suffer an untimely death by falling. She then turned her attention to the others "Hey y'all"

"Hey!" all the guys chorused raising their drinks in greeting before downing them in one swift gulp.

"Best excuse for a drink I've ever seen" joked Sirius seeing Caitlin and Alex's shocked expressions.

"I can agree with that. Your blinding selves would drive anyone to drink" Lauren countered as she headed towards the snow covered bar dragging Alex along. Caitlin soon found herself ensconced in a conversation with James and Sirius on the merits of various mixes of fire whisky. Caitlin may have hated potions with a passion but whisky blends were favourite topic of hers and most everybody there. Getting the right combination could be downright dangerous. People were known to lose eyebrows, smelling capabilities and all taste sensation for months. Kirsten, talking to Remus and his boyfriend Chase about their ruins assignment had her back to the others, so when Lauren shoved a fire whisky blend into her hand she jumped sky high.

"Oi! That almost cost you your drink," Lauren scolded the meek looking Kirsten.

The meekness quickly turned into a feral grin as Kirsten eyed Lauren's drink "Mah… you know I would've just stolen yours," making a grab for it. Lauren quickly wrenched her drink away just in time and gave Kirsten a death glare for good measure. Remus and Chase who had been watching the exchange shivered as wrath radiated from Lauren's glare.

Caitlin finding that there was a silent staring war going on without her, squeezed past James and Sirius. Promptly she began glaring at the two girls. A glare war was truly started and only peace was reached when Caitlin began laughing. Soon the conversation on the Beanbags turned to the up-coming camping trip. All of them were able to go. It was just the choosing a location and date to leave on that had to be arranged. Choosing a date turned out to be easy. They would leave the day after term ended. They were all keen to help Kirsten organise the trip. Remus and Sirius offered to help with locating maps of the area. Damien, James and Ty said they'd organise the tents as their parents often went exploring and lived relatively close by. Caitlin volunteered to help Billy check what type of plants and animals they would need to avoid and Lauren and Alex were going to persuade the elves to give them some food.

It took almost three hours before the trance music began to get irritating. It seemed like the same song was being played over and over again. The beat grinding its way into the students minds. Caitlin was the first to crack "This music is shit,"

"Well… I like it," Ty replied. "It's not affecting the others," gesturing to the crowd on the dance floor that had still yet to increase in size.

"Well I don't. So I'm going to change it!" Caitlin expertly navigated her way through the crowd to where the gramophone was. Soon rock music began pouring out of the walls.

"Much better!" sighed Lauren on Caitlin's return. It didn't take long for the girls to start singing along to the music and naturally the next step was to start dancing. As it was no fun dancing just by themselves the girls started pulling the boys towards the dance floor. They only succeeded in dragging one very reluctant Remus into the centre of the room that was posing as the dance floor. Leaving the others ensconced in talk about the latest broom.

'_Dearly beloved are you listening?  
I can't remember a word that you were saying  
Are we demented or am I disturbed?  
The space that's in between insane and insecure' _

Forming a circle, their arms around each other and the group bellowed out a repetition of '_Ooo's_'.As both wizard and muggle songs continued to play, the girls and Remus lost track of time. It was only when Damien stumbled over to them that they realised perhaps they'd been dancing for so long. From what they could tell, the boys were truly drunk and seemed to be finding everything laughable. It was a sad sight, even from the dance floor. Alex was sure that one of the boys was trying to do a handstand on the beanbags. Then again he might just have been trying to stand up.

"Hey Lexie… how's it hanging?" asked Damien, slurring his words as he made his way towards them on the floor.

"Oh by Merlin's beard. . . ." muttered Alex, briefly studying him, and then looking past him to the rest of the boys sitting in the coloured beanbags. Yep, still crying with laughter and leaning heavily on each other.

"I have to be imagining things. They all can't be like this…right?" asked Kirsten, following her friend's eyes.

"Sorry but I think they are" apologised Remus as he lead the way back to the group of inebriated boys. They watched them trying desperately to either get out of the beanbags or become a part of them. It was even-odds on both options.

"That's bloody brilliant! The five of us will have to get these seven back to the dorms." Lauren complained and Kirsten sighed loudly. Caitlin decided that there was no chance that the boys would be able to get out of the beanbags by themselves and had already taken to hauling them out.

"Well, I guess we better get them outta here before, Merlin forbid, someone takes advantage of them." Caitlin slipped her arms around James. He flung his arms around her and dragged his feet as they lurched towards the doors.

Sirius fell on Lauren as he heaved himself out of the beanbag. Taking this as her cue Lauren placed his limp arm over her shoulder, and hitched him up as best she could. Remus lifted Chase and held him upright. He kept a tight hold after Chase tried to support himself and almost slammed face first into the ground.

Alex quickly elected to help Damien and Ty as they, at least, seemed to be able to walk, sort of. She grabbed an arm of each boy so she could steer them in the right direction. They both protested weakly but didn't snatch their arms away.

"Oh gee, thanks guys," sulking Kirsten glared at Billy, who was struggling in a purple twinkling beanbag "Give the shorty the tallest guy to haul"

"Oh no probs. We know how you're the toughest." called Caitlin over her shoulder.

It took Kirsten a couple of goes to get Billy out of the beanbag. It really didn't help that Billy was taller than her by at least a foot. However, he didn't struggle and was sober enough to walk with some assistance, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "Right, let's get these wankers back before I break. These boys are as weak as a diricrawl!" stated Kirsten, her irritation evident.

Somehow they got the guys up to the Gryffindor common room. It was a true miracle that they weren't caught by the care taker or any patrolling teachers. Still Lauren was sure it had taken three times longer than as usual. It didn't help that Sirius insisted on dashing from shadow to shadow like a deranged ninja. He absolutely refused to walk in the moonlight. As such they were the last to arrive, just. Caitlin who had arrived marginally before her was looking guilty for some reason. Kirsten was looking both thoughtful and thoroughly harassed. It seemed that Billy had passed out somewhere along the way. Only Alex looked un-phased by the trip up.

"Let's dump them here" said Kirsten, as she dropped Billy to the floor with a hard _thwump_.

"At least put him on the couch." Caitlin said as she placed James in one of the armchairs.

Kirsten sighed and put the top half of Billy on the couch.

"Now the rest of him," instructed Caitlin with smirk as she arranged James into what she hoped was a comfortable position in the chair.

Kirsten rolled her eyes and picked up Billy's legs putting them on the couch too.

"There… happy?" asked Kirsten, glaring at Caitlin. Caitlin stared at her for second then stuck out her tongue before going to help Alex manoeuvre Damien and Ty onto the furniture. Alex was having a hard time as Damien refused to let go and Ty was passed out.

While watching Alex and Caitlin struggle, Lauren put Sirius on the couch with Billy. As she arranged Sirius she noticed that Kirsten had placed a cushion behind Billy's head. Lauren grinned glancing at Kirsten who was trying to pry Damien loose, maybe things were changing. Deciding that a cushion was a good idea Lauren searched and had finally found one as Remus arrived with Chase and headed straight up to their room.

"Look at them go. Remus isn't wasting anytime taking advantage of poor Chase's drunken state." Lauren joked tucking a cushion under Sirius' head.

"I heard that!" Remus called down the stairs but didn't deny it. The girls laughed.

"Keep it down." Sirius muttered, turning further into the cushion.

"Sorry _Your Royal Highness_," Lauren replied with an exaggerated bow before sitting down in front of the fire.

"Well, that's great. There's nowhere to sit now! Bleeding couch hoggers" whined Alex now free of Damien, joining Lauren on the ground. Kirsten decided to sprawl behind them. Caitlin being stubborn and scanned the room finding the most comfortable spot available, the arm of James chair "Comfy. . . ."

"Ah ha. Sure. . . ." Lauren laughed.

"Shut. Up!" Sirius growled through the cushion.

"Someone's in a mood" answered Lauren.

"Someone had too much to drink" came Sirius' muffled response.

"Well, whose fault is that?"

Sirius said nothing. Caitlin thought that he might have fallen asleep.

"That's what I thought." Lauren said smugly.

"Come on, Lauren. Let's leave these losers. They're no fun anymore." Alex said getting up from the floor dragging Lauren with her.

The four girls left the common room and ran up to the girls' dormitory, halting when they came to top of the stairs. The entrance to the rooms was guarded by a portrait a young teenage witch, in case some boy did ever manage to get up the stairs. The witch had shoulder-length rainbow hair, a wand twirling in her fingers; wearing Gryffindor robes and an impish smile on her thin face as she greeted at the girls.

"Hello Sprite," Alex grinned at the portrait.

"Welcome back, girls. Where have you been that I don't know about?"

"Damien hosted a Christmas party in the Room of Requirement." Caitlin informed the painting.

"Awesome! How was it?" Sprite asked excitedly, bouncing in her frame. She was a portrait that was not impressed with just being a picture on the wall. She liked to live through the students who roomed behind her.

"Fantastimondo! We danced, and drank, and sang. There was muggle music too! The muggle music was not too shabby really. The boys got para'd though, leaving us to carry them all the way back. Typical! Anyway,_ rules are meant to be broken_." Caitlin explained bouncing lightly on the spot. Sprite pouted as her frame swung forward revealing an archway. The girls stumbled along corridor to their bedroom and gathered all their pillows into a pile on the floor. The girls forming a loose circle amongst the pillows.

"Yeah what happened to her at the party? Where was she? I don't remember seeing her" asked Alex, scratching her head emphasising her struggle to remember.

"Yeah, like what the fuck? Isn't she interested in him? Clearly she has no comprehension of what it takes get a boyfriend" Caitlin criticized, flinging her self back on the pillow in esasperation.

"Not that you would know" Kirsten interjected, giving Caitlin a playful shove.

"Hey, that was not my fault!" Caitlin argued, shoving Kirsten back.

"I so don't believe you" retorted Kirsten "So why do you care if she is hitting on James or not?"

"I was just stating a fact that she is totally a mole-face" Caitlin said in defence and sitting up promptly buried Kirsten under the pillows. Punishment handed down Caitlin fell back again onto her pillow.

"Still doesn't answer the question" Kirsten taunted while trying to dig her way out from under the pillows.

"I think someone's got a crush" Alex sang from her pillow.

"I'm sorry, _what?_ I most certainly do not." Caitlin retorted flinging her last pillow at Alex.

Alex ducked and started singing "_Caitlin and Jaaames, sitting on a raspberry_. . . ." but she failed to think of a second line.

Caitlin shoved her fingers in her ears. "La la la, I can't hear you!"

"How old are you again, seven?" Lauren asked sitting atop a mound of pillows, raising an eyebrow.

"Add a one" Caitlin held up one finger.

"What? Seventy-one! I knew you were a paedophile but this is extreme, even for you" gasped Lauren.

"A gap of fifty-four years is not that much" Caitlin stated firmly nodding her head in agreement with herself.

"Yeah, you like your men young and tender, right?" Kirsten leered, while Lauren gagged next to her.

"Yuck, I feel violated!"

"What is he? A cut of beef?" Alex asked slapping Lauren on the back, trying to stop her gagging.

"Mah, he's totally lamb," Kirsten shrugged.

"I love Lamb" Caitlin said serenely.

"My point exactly," Kirsten said with a triumphant grin.

Caitlin jolted back to reality. "Wait, what?" Her eyes widened as realisation hit her "Oh…"

"Well, moving on! Someone rub my feet!" Alex interrupted, swinging her feet to the inside of the circle.

"How' bout no, you crazy mo-fo?" Lauren responded shoving Alex's feet away.

Alex kicked her, shoving her feet in her face as they laughed.

The girls stayed up until the early hours of the morning, talking about anything and everything. The band posters on the walls blinked sleepily at them as the hours passed by.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note/warnings: **this is an OC centric fiction. Also I don't have a Beta. You have been warned. Contains some course language.

AN: Sorry for the shortness. And thanks for the review!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own etc.

* * *

It was an hour after dawn but Kirsten was already up; she never could stay in bed long. In fact she'd been awake so long that she'd made her way down stairs to the common room and was now enacting her brilliant scheme to torture the sleeping boys. She had noticed that the curtains were drawn in the common room last night and her scheme relied solely around this fact.

Just as she reached them, Caitlin came hurtling down the stairs. Kirsten seeing that Caitlin was going to shout a greeting quickly shushed her.

She waited for Caitlin to reach her before explaining her scheme. It took some time because Caitlin had to creep around the still sleeping boys.

"What are you doing, Kirsten?" Caitlin whispered.

"I'm going to give the boys an after party wake up they won't forget," Kirsten whispered back, a malicious smile on her face "Help me open these curtains."

An equally evil grin spread across Caitlin's face as she grabbed one end of the curtains and Kirsten took hold of the other. Kirsten counted to three on her fingers and on her signal they pulled the curtains back; letting in a stream of blinding light.

"Shut those curtains!" yelled Billy trying to curl in on himself- Kirsten and Caitlin laughed ignoring him.

"It fucking _hurts!_" he said pulling himself off the couch after giving up on escaping the light. He didn't get very far however. During the night Sirius had rolled off the couch and Billy subsequently tripped over him.

"You git, get the fuck off me! I'm trying to sleep!" Sirius yelled through Billy's body.

At this point Lauren came running down the stairs to see Caitlin and Kirsten laughing at Billy and Sirius, who were trying to get up off the floor. Getting up Billy glared daggers at them and stalked off towards the boys' dormitory.

"What the…?" Lauren managed to get out before she burst into laughter at the scene before her.

"I can't see!" James whined, covering his eyes. It seemed that even covering his eyes with his hands was not enough to black the light because he then twisted his head into the chair.

"Argh! The light, it burns, it burns! Shut the blinds!" said a sleepy but outraged Damien.

By now the three girls were in hysterics, they couldn't get over the boys reactions.

As Alex joined the other three, the boys became more resilient to the light stopping their flailing. Once their flailing stopped the girls deemed it safe to sit down.

Just then, Chase walked down to the common room.

"Hey Chase! Have a nice sleep?" asked Sirius with an exaggerated wink.

"Yeah, great, thanks." yawned Chase slouching onto the couch that Billy had vacated.

"Much better than you lot, I bet." Remus said smugly following Billy into the room. Billy holding a silver skull flask headed straight to where Sirius was sprawling in front of the couch.

At this point some of the younger Gryffindors decided that they were going to brave the common room before quickly dashing for the portal. It was a usual occurrence when the older students (not just the 7th years) decided to live a little.

"Oh god this potion is awful," Sirius complained with a grimace, as he gulped down more of the anti-hangover potion Billy had brought downstairs with him.

"Next time you can suffer, you ungrateful prick." Billy deadpanned, making his way around the room. Sirius may have been correct that the potion was foul in every manner of the word but it was better than a hangover. Billy even offered it the girls though he made it obvious that Caitlin and Kirsten were in for a slow death sometime in the future. Alex was handing out water to those that wanted to remove the taste of the cure from their poor tongues. With all the commotion no one noticed the quite conversation between Sirius and Lauren

"Um… Loz can I ask a favour?" whispered Sirius.

"Uh… sure?" replied Lauren warily; she wondered what this could be about. She tried to think if there was anything that Sirius was embarrassed about from last night. There wasn't unless you counted that crappy ninja impersonation.

"Um…look I need help doing my paper for History, will you help me?" asked Sirius, looking down, his hair falling into his face.

Lauren blinked "What, the great Sirius Black needs help from me? Of course I'll help you. This is a random time to ask for help with _homework._"

"Thanks? I figured I'd do it now while everyone is too distracted to be suspicious. I have a reputation to protect!" Sirius said, his usual cocky grin appearing on his face. He knew he could count on her and maybe he could get this homework in on time now.

Lauren nodded solemnly "But of course."

Sirius just laughed and wondered what he had been worried about. Lauren wouldn't tell anyone if he didn't want her to.

The rest of the day passed slowly and without incident. Lily and her friends joined them in the common room later that day helping the others when if they needed. The students knew that this year was far too important to waist resources, even if it meant speaking to people they didn't like. Since it was the Sunday before Christmas the students took this opportunity to finish as much of their remaining homework as they could. In fact there was a constant stream of students coming and going from the common room in search of library books and inappropriate substances to sustain them throughout the day. By the time night rolled round the students were falling asleep on their books.

* * *

The constant stream of students to the library did not let up for the entire week. Kirsten, Remus and Chase spent most of their free time there working on their ruin assignments or trying to locate maps of the mountains. It seemed that all the maps had gone missing. Luckily Sirius kept his promise and Lauren volunteered her free time, so when they weren't working on their history assignment they were helping the others locate the maps. Besides the map hunters Billy and Caitlin were also in the library making sure that none of them ended up poisoned or as a tasty treat for one of the locale nasties.

Alex, James, Damien and Ty ran tag team on ensuring that the library goers remembered to eat. They had already completed their jobs. The elves had readily agreed to give the students food and the tents had arrived on Tuesday. Everyone was now inhabiting the library either reading or locating books with any information pertaining to Hogsmeade. They were in the library so much that Severus was able to walk unmolested down the halls and the Hogwarts Hogwash published an article on the rumour that the group had been forced to do extra exams for spilling pumpkin juice on a book.

Now Thursday two days before the group was set to leave, the maps of the area were still yet to be located. They were there until the librarian quite literally kicked them out with orders to head straight to bed. Which most of them did but sleep came to few.

As they got ready for breakfast the next morning Caitlin asked "Did you get any sleep?" to a very grumpy looking Kirsten

"No," bit out Kirsten before she walked out.

"Yikes. I'm mortally wounded by your words...word?" Caitlin called clutching her heart.

Alex giggled "Come my wounded love, let me heal you" grabbing Caitlin in a chest crushing hug.

"Can't breathe, need air" gasped Caitlin. Lauren took this opportunity to jump on the two knocking them to the ground. Sitting up she grinned "Morning! Where's Kirsten?"

"Great Hall. In a mood" Caitlin answered tickling Lauren to force her off.

"Oh. I'm sure she just needed some tea." offered Lauren looking up at Alex and Caitlin from the floor. Alex held out her hand for Lauren. Taking the offered hand, Lauren hauled herself up and led the way to the Great Hall. There they found the Marauders surrounding Kirsten, a large piece of parchment in front of her.

Looking up James waved to the approaching girls "We found a map!"


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Previous warnings apply. Its short but it's something

* * *

'Oh. I'm sure she just needed some tea.' offered Lauren looking up at Alex and Caitlin from the floor. Alex held out her hand for Lauren. Taking the offered hand, Lauren hauled herself up and led the way to the Great Hall. There they found the Marauders surrounding Kirsten, a large piece of parchment in front of her.

Looking up James waved to the approaching girls 'We found a map!'

'Where did you find it?' asked Alex examining the aging parchment. The parchment was so old the edges looked about to crumble. Drawn on the map were Hogsmeade and the surrounding mountains. The contours shaping the mountains swirled across the map showing a terrain of steep ridges, deep valleys and wide plateaus.

'Oh it was tucked away in some book that had nothing to do with the area' replied James. His grin giving away the fact that it most certainly did not come from any book the girls could have borrowed from the library. Caitlin raised her eyebrows but did not question it further. Gryffindor students learnt early that it was better not knowing half the things the Marauders did and ignoring the rest.

When Damien, Ty, Billy and Chase arrived the others had already ruled out several tracks that snaked their way along almost every contour on the map. Many had been ruled out because the terrain was too steep for their little band of inexperienced trekkers to cover and other tracks were simply too short. The group had settled on a minimum distance of nine miles and there had to be a plateau to make a base camp. That ruled at least half of the tracks.

The group was so busy looking at the map that they barely noticed the post arriving. Everyone received a letter that morning. It was the beginning of Christmas week and their parents or guardians where wishing a happy start to their adventures. Well that was what most of them got, except Ty. When he began to read his the colour quickly drained from his face. Just as the others realised, Ms McGonagall whisked him away with a hushed 'Come with me'. The others stared after him.

'There was a St Mungo's stamp on the back of his letter' whispered Chase. There was a collective intake of breath. They knew what that meant- Death Eaters attack. No one spoke as no one really knew what to say. They were thinking of their own parents- muggle or wizard. The Death Eaters were now targeting second generation wizards and they knew it wouldn't be long before they moved onto wizarding families that were friendly towards muggles or mudbloods .

'I don't think he'll be coming' whispered Kirsten breaking the uneasy quiet. Some of them looked at their hands and some at each other.

It was then that Ms McGonagall came up beside the group 'I can see from your lack of colour that you know what has happened to Mr Turner?'

The group nodded 'We guessed' Alex said fidgeting slightly 'Where was it this time?'

'They were in North Hampton. I won't go into a detail, that's Turner's decision. Turner is currently on his way to St Mungo's as we speak. He also wanted to say that he'll see next term and to still have fun' Obviously Ty hadn't told McGonagall what they were up to. McGonagall frowned as glanced at the map on the table 'In light of this, I know I don't need to remind you to keep safe these holidays?'

The group nodded silently. McGonagall gave the group one last look before leaving. Again an uneasy quiet fell on the group, this time it was Chase that broke it 'Should we still go?'

'Yes' surprisingly it was Alex that answered; both her parents were muggles and she was constantly worried for their safety.

Damien leant over the table and squeezed Alex's hand. 'Well if you think we should go, I'm up for it' said Damien, the others nodding in agreement.

'Let's see if we can pick a trail then shall we?' asked Remus smoothing the map down in front of him.

The group had been excited before the post but now all they could think of was Ty's face as he was led away by Ms McGonagall. Remus was stared hard at the map; he had been ruling out most of the tracks before but now couldn't seem to focus. So Chase slid over and began pointing to tracks over Remus' shoulder. Each suggestion was met with a shake of Remus' head. The others had lost all interest. Sirius and James were muttering about pure bloods; Lauren, Caitlin and Damien were chatting with Alex, and Kirsten was slowly stirring her tea as Billy sat silently.

What seemed like ages passed and Remus kept shaking his head. Chase sighed, closed his eyes and jabbed the map. He felt Remus stiffen, opening his eyes he saw Remus slowly nod his head. Chase looked at where his finger had landed; it appeared to be a plateau bordered by a valley about 10 miles from Hogsmeade.

'Got it' Chase announced to the group, not moving from his position. The others shuffled around so they could all get a look at the destination. No one voiced any complaints. The distance was do-able and the inclines not too steep. The trail even had a plateau which looked over into what appeared to be a valley.

'Well that's it then. Time to pack' announced Lauren.


End file.
